


the almost truth

by chokedme



Category: IT (2017)
Genre: Canon, IT 2017 - Freeform, M/M, Reddie, Stenbrough, based of my fav book!!!, benverly - Freeform, but there's always a happy ending with me, con artist! richie???, eventual angst, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-21 04:40:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14908499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chokedme/pseuds/chokedme
Summary: teen con artist richie might be over his head. he’s planning one of the biggest cons of all time, to disguise his friend as hillary bowers, a girl who went missing over twelve years ago, for a million and half dollar reward. to do so he needs information from eddie kaspbrak, her stepbrother. who actually turns out to be kinda cute?





	the almost truth

It was almost too easy. The business men flocked towards him like they had been without food for days, when in reality it had only been a few hours. Richie stood at the entrance to the parking lot, a box of chocolate in his hands and a cheeky smile on his face. He was wearing his best clothes, which was only a pair of unripped jeans and a button up. It's not like Richie had much to splurge on clothes anyway.

He waved the men towards him, hoping he looked official enough to play the part he was yearning for. To his relief, the men turned his way, jostling each other and searching their linen pockets for their wallets. Stanley Uris stood at the head of the group, silently nodding in Richie’s direction as he led the rest of the suit-clad men to his friend.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen! I represent the Future Business Leaders of America over at Lincoln High,”

_False. He was in his twenties, struggling to pay for college. He also thought FBLA was a cult, he would never join them._

“And we’re trying to raise money for competition, the-,” “Yeah, yeah, how much for the chocolate, kid?” Stan interrupted Richie as planned, trying hard to keep a straight, uninterested face. “Five dollars!” Richie’s smile didn’t falter. Stan turned to the other men, fishing the money from his fake leather wallet. “We should help the kid out, he may be one of us one day,” The other men agreed, forming a line behind what they thought was a respectable man who worked for their industry. Richie mischievously smiled at him, taking the five dollar from his friend and leaning forward to whisper discreetly in his ear. “I’m five months older than you, dweeb, stop calling me kid.” Stan gave a polite smile back, and snatched a Hershey’s bar from the box.

“Don’t make me tell this group of fucks that you’re a con artist, Richie.”

“Dude! You fucking got them so good!” Stan chuckled, slipping off his dad suit jacket. The group of men had bought all the chocolate from the box, grasping them in their gold soaked hands as they skipped off to their Ferraris and Porches. Richie wished he could live that kind of life, but instead he was here, lying about his life to sell chocolate to rich momma’s boys. “You figured they’d be smart enough to spot dollar store candy with labels printed from Office Depot.”

Apparently not. Richie had spent only eight bucks on the entire box of about a hundred bars, and he reached around five hundred in profit with five bucks a piece. Which meant he was making a significant amount more than what he spent on the candy and the labels that went around them to make them look more official. Richie had been doing cons like these since he was 12, it wasn’t like he was new at this.

Richie put a cigarette between his lips and proceeded to light it up as he watched Stan vibrate with excitement. He reached into the now empty box and gathered the stack of bills, sifting through them with his thin fingers. “Fifty-fifty?” He asked Richie, counting the bills carefully. “Sixty-forty. You did a lot more than I did on this one,” Richie replied, exhaling gray air. “How’d you even get into the building?” Stan split the money accordingly, giving Richie his half and pocketing his own.

He started to walk away, shaking his hands in front of his face to produce jazz hands. “Magic. I’ll see you at Bev’s later, right?” Richie nods, throwing his cigarette to the ground and stomping it out with his shoe. “Yeah! We gotta plan the big Hillary heist.” Stan flashes a thumbs up, walking out of sight. Richie glanced down at the bills in his hand and proceeded to count them, realizing he had gotten sixty percent instead of forty. He pulled out his phone, and snapped a picture of the stack, sending it to Stan.

**trashmouth: image.jpeg**

**trashmouth:** wtf stan? it was sposed to be 60/40

**birb boy:** u nvr said who got 60 who got 40

**trashmouth:** :/

**birb boy:** :)

Richie didn’t really like his friend taking pity on him, but he had to admit the extra hundred dollars was nice. Maybe he could finally have some wiggle room when he had to pay bills in a few days. Especially since he lived by himself. Stan had offered several times to be his roommate, and Richie turned him down every time. He didn’t like recieving help when it came to money. He sighed quietly, closing his messages and opening the notepad on his phone.

He decided to go over his notes on Hillary Bowers again before he pitched his idea to Beverly. She was the toughest of the four to convince, usually preferring to stick to low risk cons. Although, if they managed to pull this off, it would make them rich beyond their wildest dreams. Richie opened the note, cringing at the bad grammar in each bullet. He may or may not have schemed this crazy idea whilst high, but the fact that it still made sense sober filled him with confidence.

**hillary bowers:**

**\- weent mising at five yrs old**

**\- wld now be eggsactly bev’s age iff found now**

**\- has a broter, henyr bowers who was 11 when she went mising. 23 now.**

**\- stepbrotheer, eddie kaspbrakk. 18. moter got divorsed after hilart went missing, marired frank kaspbprak**

**\- hillary was 5’6, rd hair, gren eyes, and freccckles. almost iDEEntical to bervely**

**\- reward forr finding heer : 1.5 MIllion**

And way at the bottom of the note, Richie had typed in all caps,

**\- hwo do we pull thsi off???????????**

That also seemed to be the main concern on Beverly’s mind when Richie explained the situation to her later that day. “Let me get this straight. You want me to pretend to be Hillary Bowers, who went missing twelve fucking years ago?!” She threw her arms up exasperatedly, flopping back on the couch. “One, I don’t think we could come up with a good enough explanation for her absence, then sudden “reappearance,” She said with air quotes, “And two, you don’t have nearly enough information about her and her family. A few stoned bullet points on your digital notepad doesn’t prove anything to me.”

They were in the living room of Richie’s messy apartment, Beverly sprawled out on the couch, Stan and Richie sitting next to each other on the rug, and Bill bringing beers back from the kitchen. He tossed a can to everyone and laid down on the floor, setting his head on Stan’s lap. Richie smirked at this display of affection, turning to Bev with a quirked eyebrow. “I think B-bev’s right, Ruh-Richie, you-” Stan shoved Bill off his lap, pulling his knees to his chest and taking a long swig of beer.

“You have no input on this, Bill. You didn’t even come with us today, you were too busy sucking face with Audra!” Bill looked appalled, thrusting his beer can in Stan’s direction angrily. “Audra and I a-are just friends! Sh-she’s my lab puh-parter and I nuh-needed to study with her f-for the chem final!” Richie watched amusedly as they continued to bicker in the way only married couples did, removing himself from beside Stan and joining Bev on the couch. Bev leaned close to him to whisper in his ear, completely disregarding the argument that was escalating on the floor.

“Tell ya what. I have a friend that lives next door to the Bowers’. I’ll ask him to set up a date with you and their son. But only if Bill and Stan tag along and make it seem like a double date. If you manage to get their head out of their asses and realize their feelings for each other, we’ll better plan this whole Hillary thing and we’ll get it done.” Beverly explained, raising her voice above the echoing yells.

Richie looked at her in shock, his mouth opening and closing, trying to find the words to correctly convey his emotions. “Why didn’t you say you had a connection to them before?!” Richie exclaimed, crossing his arms in disbelief. “I wanted to see if you would figure something out on your own. Clearly, I was giving you too much credit.” While Richie gaped at her in mock offense, the jarring boys on the floor decided to reenter the conversation. “She got you there.” Bill agreed, laying his head back down on Stan’s lap. Stan relented, looking back up at his friends on the couch. “So what’d we miss? What’s the plan?”

Richie sighed, scrubbing his hands down his cheeks. “Looks like I’m going out with Eddie Kaspbrak.” Beverly nodded. “That’s the best way to get information on Hillary. Stan, Bill, go with him and make sure he doesn’t scare the kid off.” The three boys groan. They knew Beverly was right, they just didn’t want to admit it 

The date with Eddie Kaspbrak was set for Tuesday. It was currently Monday night, and Richie was pacing around Bill and Stan’s shared apartment. “What if he plays me? What if _The Incident_ happens again?” Stan opens his mouth as if to say something from his place on his bed, but Richie cuts him off, running his hands through his curly mop. “What if he steals all my money and I have to dropout of college and become a con artist!?”

Stan chuckles and stands up from the couch, grabbing Richie by the arms and forcing him to look down at him. “Dude. You’re already a con artist. You literally have nothing to lose at this point,” Stan shakes his head with a small smile on his face, “You’re at the lowest point, Rich. There is nothing that could make your life-,” Richie shrugs Stan’s hands off him. “Alright asshole, I get it.” There’s a knock on the door, and Bill enters, looking cautiously at the two boys. “I th-thought you guys were fucking.” Stan flashes a look of disgust while Richie’s mouth slides into a smirk. He says, “We were! You interrupted a real nice blowjob!” at the same time Stan growls, “Fuck you, Bill. That’s gross.”

Once Stan realizes what Richie says, he’s being shoved out the front door, an insincere, “You’ll be fine!” echoing in his ear. “Christ,” Richie mumbles as he trudges to his car, fumbling with his keys. He was not going to be fine. His last date changed his life forever, it was the reason he was stuck in this shitty loop of lying to people for a few extra bucks. Sighing quite loudly, Richie starts up his car and drives to his apartment, confusion flooding through him when he notices another car parked in his driveway. It was a Mercedes Benz, which surely didn’t belong to anyone he knew.

He approached the front door with caution, unlocking it then proceeding to use the keys as a weapon. That didn’t really do much, but when you thought someone broke into your house, you’ll use anything you can. When he walked in, he didn’t see a burglar or a gang member like he thought, only a small, teenage boy. Correction: A small, teenage boy with a face hard enough to kill you. The boy glared as Richie walked towards him. Okay, maybe not a teenager. He looks like he’s been through too much for that. “I’m Eddie. Beverly gave me the key to your apartment. I don’t like going on planned dates because I only see the fake side of that person. So I’m here now.”

Eddie grimaced, as if realizing what he said out loud. “I’m sorry, that was rude of me. Here I am, in your house, showing up to our date early, being a bitch to you.” Richie was shocked, he couldn’t speak, as if his mouth stopped working. This was Eddie Kaspbrak, the 18 year old he was supposed to take out on a date for information? It seemed that plan was over quicker than it started. He was the cutest boy Richie had ever seen in his life.  Eddie had the softest looking, slightly curly brown hair, doe like eyes, and freckles sprinkled across his cheeks.

He was wearing a pastel pink sweater and dark jeans, looking like something straight out of Richie’s dreams. Eddie cleared his throat, interrupting Richie from his thoughts. “Oh, fuck. I’m sorry, I’m Richie, hi. I was staring for too long, I know, I just didn’t expect you in my house, you know, I was surprised.” Eddie bounce up from the couch, laying his head on his hands. “That’s the point! I’ll see the best version of you since it won’t be all fake and stuff. Do you want to like, go somewhere or stay here?”

Looks like this was happening right now, as much as Richie didn’t want it to. He didn’t mind though, this boy was insanely cute and actually looked excited to be here. He took a deep breath. “Let’s go somewhere. I know this really great place.” Eddie nodded and smiled, hopping up from the couch to trail behind him. “After you!” He was going to kill Beverly, and the stupid neighbor he didn’t even know.

Richie Tozier was afraid. Those weren’t words you heard in the same sentence often. It had been years since he had been on an actual date, and the last one was so bad it still kept him up at night. He had been 19, working at Denny’s for minimum wage to raise money for his college tuition. Back when he still went to college. Richie served a man named Brady Kurt, who blatantly flirted with him the entire time, and left his number on a napkin when he left. Richie texted him soon after, obviously interested in the hot 24 year old that actually took interest in him as well. Turns out, Brady was less interested over the phone, and even less interested when Richie set up the date.

Richie was actually stood up twice before they were actually able to meet up. While they were at the restaurant, Brady talked very little, only telling Richie he owned a company that made phone chargers and he had a custom made mattress. Richie then used the bathroom after their drinks were served, and when he returned, Brady was gone. As well as his backpack. Which contained his wallet, phone, headphones, and his medication.

He was stranded. His credit cards were liquidated, and all his money ended up being stolen. The only thing Richie had left was a pack of Marlboros in his pocket, which he sold to a woman with a scratchy voice outside the restaurant. He used the money to take the bus to his apartment, packed all of his shit, and moved in with Stan, his best friend since middle school

Richie hasn’t been on a date since. But here he was, going out with some boy he didn’t even know. And yet, his hands weren’t sweating and his heart was racing. Hopefully this one went well.

**Author's Note:**

> leave some kind words? xoxo, @onlyreddie


End file.
